South Carolina football legend Deebo Samuel has put himself in the world of football news a lot over the last couple of weeks.
Despite missing three games this year due to an injury, Samuel appears destined to make his 2nd Pro Bowl (and maybe his 2nd All-Pro team, too), and his two best performances have come in the past 8 days.
Last week against the Philadelphia Eagles, Samuel went off for 138 yards and 3 touchdowns on just 7 touches of the football. He was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week by multiple outlets after the dominant performance and blowout victory.
Then, on Sunday, Samuel was back at it again, racking up 150 yards and 2 touchdowns on 10 touches against the Seattle Seahawks. He’s sure to receive some recognition this week for the performance.
However, the biggest news from the former South Carolina football star is that he broke an all-time NFL record on Sunday.
With a 1-yard touchdown run against the Seahawks, Samuel scored his 19th career rushing touchdown, breaking a tie with Hall of Famer Bobby Mitchell for the most by a player who spent the majority of his career at wide receiver. Mitchell spent significant amounts of time as a running back and wingback, making Samuel’s feat that much more impressive.
He also tied an all-time NFL record for most rushing touchdowns in a single season by a receiver (also held by Mitchell) as the touchdown on Sunday was his 5th of the season.
Other than running backs and quarterbacks (players who rush the ball most frequently), no player has ever scored more rushing touchdowns in a season or in a career than Deebo Samuel. With four regular-season games remaining, he seems poised to extend those NFL records this year.
Samuel owns a South Carolina football record, as well. No player in the history of the program has more kick return touchdowns than Samuel. He took 4 kicks to the house in his career, including 2 in a row to start the 2017 season in wins against NC State and Missouri. He is also all over the Gamecocks’ wide receiver statistical leaderboards.